Miss Belle

Tyrone Graham
Aug 24, 2017 · 2 min read

Takes some doing to be born under a sunflower
And get no more’n foot-loose from bein’ stole as a chile
Her soul was with the traveling show from that hour
No one knew better that it’s a full life that wins a while

Yeh, she won them all, she won their hearts and their minds
She had the world and gave it up — she just plain ran out of room
Came a long way from Kansas and all those other kinds
And all the world’s in love with a Miss Belle, I presume —

Takes some body beautiful to catch a prince’s eye
And the likes of ol’ Teddy or even Diamond Jim
No common turn of leg can make the poets sigh
There’s precious little elegance and wit in every whim

And how does it feel to run through several fortunes
And to wake up in bed feeling it’s time for a change?
And how does it feel to see the passing of the moons —
Were there highs and lows or was it all on that range?

But she saw the world on account of a five-pound bet
First true queen Egypt’s seen since Cleo sailed the Nile
Taprobane and India ain’t got over her yet
All that money couldn’t buy was bought by Miss Belle’s style

Yeh, took a keen nose to find what lay under those stones
And to face what she found took a keener sense of fun
That cold wind off the Thames never warmed nobody’s bones
And nobody’s been from the land of the setting sun —

Prohibition’s the best thing that hit the East Fifties
Hear about it from your congressman or local hood
It was moonshine in her eyes that made those speakeasies
Breadlines growing on the sidewalk weren’t being as things should

And how does it feel to feel crowded when you’re alone?
How do red pajamas feel when you’re running from the law?
How does it feel to know all that’s ahead is gone —
Was it time to cry your eyes out in a Harlem hoosegaw?

Yeh, and how does it feel to forget you’ve been alive?
And does knowing it’s the end make what’s gone ahead well?
Where were you when all the lights went out in some cheap dive —
Where were you then, where are you now, where will you be, Miss Belle?

The New North

// Home of storytellers // Facebook: @thenewnorth

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Tyrone Graham

Written by

In the beginning was the word. And I got paid for it.

The New North

// Home of storytellers // Facebook: @thenewnorth

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